One Wish: The Holiday Album
Template:Use mdy dates Template:Italic title {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: November 18, 2003 | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Just Whitney2002The Ultimate Collection2007studioOne Wish: The Holiday AlbumWhitney Houston - One Wish.pngyesWhitney HoustonNovember 18, 2003Template:Hlist* Tree Sound Studios (Atlanta)
- Doppler Studios (Atlanta)
- Leapyear Studio (Los Angeles)
- Tonysound (Van Nuys)
- Signet Sound Studios (Hollywood)
- East Bay Music (Westchester)
- Avatar Studios (New York)
- PatchWerk Recording Studios (Atlanta)
- Silent Sound Studios (Atlanta)
- Westlake Recording Studios (Los Angeles)
- Capitol Studios (Los Angeles)
- Crossway Studios (Mendham)
- Greater Rising Star Church (Atlanta)*Christmas
- R&B
- pop
- gospel43:15AristaTemplate:Hlistx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}
One Wish: The Holiday Album is the only Christmas album and sixth studio album by American singer Whitney Houston. It was released by Arista Records on November 18, 2003. Chiefly produced by Mervyn Warren, along with additional production from Troy Taylor, Gordon Chambers and Barry Eastmond, One Wish features a duet with Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown. The album also includes "Joy to the World" and "Who Would Imagine a King," both of which first appeared on The Preacher's Wife soundtrack (1996).
The album earned a mixed reception by music critics, many of whom praised the production but were divided upon Houston's vocal performance. Upon its release, One Wish debuted at number 49 on the US Billboard 200, and at number 14 on BillboardTemplate:'s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Its first and only single, a rendition of Freddie Jackson's "One Wish (for Christmas)", reached the top twenty on BillboardTemplate:'s US Adult Contemporary chart. In January 2018, the album achieved a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping half a million copies, making Houston one of a few artists to have all of their albums in their lifetime get certified in the United States. The album sold over 2 million copies worldwide.<ref name="riaa"/>
Promotion
In support of the album, Arista Records released Houston's rendition of Freddie Jackson's song "One Wish (for Christmas)" as a promotional single. Produced by Gordon Chambers and Barry Eastmond,<ref name="AllMusic_Credits"/> both of whom had also overseen production on Jackson's 1994 original,<ref name="AllMusic_Credits"/> it reached the top twenty on BillboardTemplate:'s US Adult Contemporary chart in 2004.<ref name="billboard_asi">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Houston also recorded a performance video for a shortened version of her cover of "Cantique de Noël (O Holy Night)," which served as an album commercial.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A lyric video for "One Wish (for Christmas)," created by filmmaker Katia Temkin showcasing performance footage as well as the song’s lyrics, was released by the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment on December 11, 2020.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On December 17, 2022, a lyric video for "The First Noël" was released.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Critical reception
Template:Album ratings New York Daily News editor David Hinckley felt that One Wish "reminds us why we liked her so much in the first place: her voice, for which holiday songs are a splendid vehicle." He noted "there's some elaborate production behind songs like "Joy to the World" and "O Come, O Come Emanuel," but also a stocking-full of lovely singing."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine remarked that "holiday records are the last place anybody would want to take a risk, since they're designed to be nice, pleasant mood music and, apart from a rather horrid version of "Little Drummer Boy" [..] this suits the bill nicely. The clean, pristine production, heavy on synths, sounds as if it was cut in the late '80s, yet it's also strangely spare, often being no more than a synth and a drum machine. Still, it's a sound that's well suited for Whitney and her thoroughly predictable set of material."<ref name="Allmusic"/> Moscow-Pullman Daily News wrote that Houston's "voice [...] dazzles on [the album] [...] as she soulfully interprets holiday classics. Her voice – though at times a bit raspy – captivates on every track."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> New York Times critic Jones Pareles noted the "lavish swoops, the sultry whispers, the gospelly asides and the meteoric crescendos" from Houston.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Richard Harrington from The Washington Post found that the "album feels like a contractual obligation-slash-holding action" and was "not particularly memorable."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Caroline Sullivan, writing for The Guardian, noted that "stuff like this is so piddling for her that [Houston] seems to have zoned out halfway through. Why put any elbow grease into the "project" when all she need do is set her larynx to "reverent," then doze off? Saying that, she gives "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" some a cappella welly, and the cocktail doo-wop of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" is quite irresistible. Still, this is the Voice at its numbest."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Slant critic Sal Cinquemani found that "one can't help but think that One Wish: The Holiday Album is nothing more than damage control [...] Houston's voice just isn’t what it used to be – she warbles her way through an otherwise understated version of the contemporary classic [...] and sings 'Tiny little tots with their eyes all aglow/Will find it hard to sleep tonight' on Mel Tormé's "The Christmas Song" like she wants to eat them."<ref name="slantmagazine"/> Rolling Stone described the album as a "lamentable Christmas collection."<ref name="rollingstone">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2014, Los Angeles Times critic Randy Lewis included One Wish on his listing of the "12 of the worst holiday albums of the last 20 years." He noted that "for this set, Houston seemed intent on shoehorning more notes into each syllable than Mariah Carey, resulting in an orgy of melismatics that often obliterates the spirit of these holiday tunes."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Commercial performance
One Wish: The Holiday Album debuted and peaked at number 49 on the US Billboard 200, the lowest chart position of her albums during her lifetime and her only album to miss the top 40 of the Billboard 200.<ref name="Billboard200"/> On BillboardTemplate:'s component charts, it reached number 14 on BillboardTemplate:'s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, becoming the first and only album in her career to miss the top ten there. It was more successful on the Top Holiday Albums chart, where it peaked at number five and would spend 30 cumulative weeks on the chart; on the two former charts, it spent 13 and 6 weeks respectively on those charts.<ref name="BillboardHoliday"/>
The album produced four Billboard chart singles: "One Wish (for Christmas)" reached number 20 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart on January 3, 2004.<ref name="billboard_asi"/> The same song in later years made the Billboard gospel charts, peaking at number 13 on its Gospel Digital Song Sales chart in January 2021.<ref name="BillboardGDT">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "The First Noel" reached number 99 on the Holiday 100 chart on December 30, 2017, with the same song peaking at numbers 12 and 1 respectively on the Gospel Digital Song Sales and Gospel Streaming Songs charts, with the song spending five weeks atop the latter chart.<ref name="BillboardGDT"/><ref name="BillboardGSS">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "Cantique De Noel (O Holy Night)" peaked at number five on the Gospel Streaming Songs chart in January 2014, while "Little Drummer Boy" reached number 12 on the same chart in January 2018.<ref name="BillboardGSS"/> In December 2012, the album returned to the Billboard 200 during the Christmas season following Houston's death early that February.
In January 2018, One Wish achieved a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for domestic shipments figures in excess of 500,000 units, making Houston one of a very few artists to have all of their lifetime albums receive an RIAA certification in the United States.<ref name="riaa"/> In 2021, the album was re-released as a deluxe edition vinyl LP and featured her posthumous Billboard AC hit duet with Pentatonix, on a remade version of Houston's 1987 Christmas hit, "Do You Hear What I Hear?", which later was certified gold by the RIAA in January 2023. According to Spotify, the album has accumulated more than 107 million streams.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Track listing
Template:Track listing Template:Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from AllMusic.<ref name="AllMusic_Credits">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Div col
- Joey Arbagey – A&R
- Julien Barber – viola
- Ray Bardani – mixing
- Sandra Billingslea – violin
- Ralph Blane –
- Edie Lehmann Boddicker – background vocals
- Joseph Bongiorno – upright bass
- Alfred Brown – viola
- Ray Brown Trio – primary artist
- Carmen Carter – background vocals
- Gordon Chambers – producer, vocal arrangement, background vocals
- Bernard Davis – drums
- John Dexter – viola
- Sante d'Orazio – photography
- Earl Dumler – oboe
- Barry J. Eastmond – conductor, engineer, keyboards, producer, string arrangements
- Max Ellen – violin
- Steve Fisher – assistant
- Roxanna Floy – make-Up
- Scott Frankfurt – drum programming, percussion programming
- Ian Freebairn-Smith – background vocals
- Roger Freeland – background vocals
- Michelle George – A&R
- Georgia Mass Choir – primary artist
- Sharlotte Gibson – background vocals
- Sandi Hall – background vocals
- Phil Hamilton – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
- Reggie Hamilton – bass
- John Holmes – assistant
- Ashley Horne – violin
- Gary Houston – background vocals
- Whitney Houston – lead vocals, producer, vocal arrangement
- Regis Iandiorio – violin
- Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar
- Ronald Jenkins – bass
- Richard Thomas Jennings – art direction, design
- Bashiri Johnson – percussion
- Thom "TK" Kidd – engineer
- Olivia Koppell – viola
- Gail Kruvand – bass
- David Kutch – mastering
- Ellin La Var – hair stylist
- Leonid Levin – violin
- Jesse Levy – cello
- Ezekiel Lewis – vocal arrangement, background vocals
- Jason Locklin – assistant
- Stephen Mackey – background vocals
- Joseph Magee – engineer
- Margaret Magill – violin
- Phil Magnotti – string engineer
- Nick Marshall – assistant
- Myrna Matthews – background vocals
- Roger Moody – assistant
- Kermit Moore – cello
- Michael Morton – flute
- Jeff Moses – assistant
- Eugene J. Moye – cello
- Jack Odom – assistant
- Zack Odom – assistant
- Dean Parks – guitar
- Carol Pool – violin
- Dave Reitzas – mixing
- Alex Reverberi – assistant
- Marnie Riley – assistant
- Maxine Roach – viola
- Anthony Ruotolo – assistant
- Matthew Schwartz – a&r
- Tony Shepperd – engineer, mixing
- Rob Skipworth – assistant
- Ivy Skoff – production coordination
- Matt Snedecor – assistant
- Timothy Snell – stylist
- Andy Stein – violin
- Katherine LiVolsi Stern – violin
- Sally Stevens – vocal contractor, background vocals
- Marti Sweet – violin
- Gerald Tarack – concert master, violin
- Craig "Niteman" Taylor – assistant
- Troy Taylor – arranger, bass, drums, keyboards, producer, programming, vocal arrangement, background vocals
- Shelene Thomas – background vocals
- Carmen Twillie – background vocals
- Mervyn Warren – arranger, choir arrangement, conductor, drum programming, keyboards, percussion, percussion programming, piano, producer, string arrangements, vocals, background vocals
- Oren Waters – background vocals
- John West – background vocals
- Gerald White – background vocals
- Michael White – engineer
- Belinda Whitney – violin
- Frank Wolf – engineer
- Harry Zaratzian – viola
Charts
| Chart (2003) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
29 |
| Chart (2012) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 90 |
| Chart (2021) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish Vinyl Albums (PROMUSICAE)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
58 |
Certifications
Template:Certification Table Top Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Bottom
Release history
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Template:Abbr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | November 18, 2003 | Template:Hlist | Arista | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| Various | October 13, 2021 | Vinyl | Arista | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |